Will the French Follow Suit?
The recent abduction of two French aid workers and their three Afghan staff in Nimroz has surely vindicated the forecasters of doom who announced that the Mastrogiacomo deal marks the beginning of...
View ArticleAnother Prisoner Exchange Deal?
Moi Aussi! A few days ago this blog asked whether the French government will follow suit and try to pressure the Karzai government -like the Italian government did earlier- into arranging a prisoner...
View ArticleNo They Don’t.
Ever since reading this piece last week by Chris Sands of UK’s The Independent (“We want the Taliban back, say ordinary Afghans”) I have been meaning to write something long and insightful and engage...
View ArticleOf Hostages and Candidates: Taliban Time Demands with French Elections
Socialist Ségolène Royal and conservative Nicolas Sarkozy – Front runners in Sunday’s French presidential elections Celine and Eric – French aid workers held hostage by the Taliban since April 3, 2007...
View Article1st Person Account of Kamikaze-Cabbie in Kabul
Just heard a pretty messed up story about a potential suicide bomber who was, fortunately, caught in time. This is a rendition of a first-person account just narrated to me. According to Dagarwaal (a...
View ArticleResidents of Kabul Protest Government’s Inaction on Behsud
Today thousands of residents of Kabul engaged in a peaceful demonstration to protest the Karzai government’s inaction on the conflict in Behsud. (This post may come out of the blue for many readers...
View ArticleResidents of Kabul Protest Government’s Inaction on Behsud – UPDATES
Some updates about yesterday’s demonstrations here against government’s inaction on the Behsud conflict -now that the dust (of the demonstrations, not yet of the conflict itself) has somewhat settled:...
View ArticleTalking to the Taliban is Foolish
Finally, a voice of reason in the “let’s negotiate with the Taliban” hysteria. From Samina Ahmed, South Asia project director of International Crisis Group: Talking to the Taliban is foolish By Samina...
View ArticleTribal Militia Plan (APPF) Gains Traction
Few ideas are so dangerous as this one. Few highlight the desperation of the international community and the Afghan government so well. And, unfortunately, few other ideas gain the traction and...
View ArticleThe Case for Staying the Course in Afghanistan
The revised US policy for Afghanistan and Pakistan is made public after what seems to have been a long and thorough process of revision, consultations and analysis. Here is a link to President Obama’s...
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